No Child Left Behind (NCLB)--the sweeping federal law that requires all schools that receive federal Title I dollars to be held strictly accountable for student outcomes--is the most discussed education reform effort in the past half century. One of the many controversial and vexing elements of the law, especially among teachers, teacher unions,…

The 1-year Postgraduate Certificate in Education Secondary English method course at the University of Sheffield's School of Education has, since 2001, asked its students to write an essay of around 4000 words on their initial understanding and experience of the National Strategies promoted by the United Kingdom's Department for Education and…

This study discusses the evolution of an instructional systems design (ISD) model that is based on an expanded view of Shulman's concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). An initial model was evaluated in the first iteration of a design experiment, and then it was changed and assessed in two other iterations that followed. The proposed ISD…

Over the last century, much was researched in the field of Education, be its educational policies or more effective learning strategies. It is only recently that studies have begun to focus on the teachers. This article describes an investigation about how the knowledge of teachers working in the field of Environmental Education is formed,…

There are selected trends in the social studies which teachers need to understand and analyze. These trends are relatively stable with the realization that changes and modification do occur. New ideas in teaching and learning must come forth to keep abreast with changes in knowledge involving related social science academic disciplines and…

Since 2003, the Center for the Future of Teaching and Learning has reported that the number of fully prepared teachers assigned to California's classrooms has increased significantly due in part to the efforts of federal, state and local education policy-makers. As Chart I demonstrates, the overall number of underprepared teachers--those who have…

As a general phrase, "cultural competence" can often conjure for the unfamiliar reader a vision of a person who is fair, just, and open, a person who is nice, someone who is a good person at heart. Cultural competence, however, goes far beyond the everyday meanings that its component words invoke, and it is an active area of scholarship and…

According to Schilling, Blunk, and Hill, the set of papers presented in this journal issue had two main purposes: (1) to use an argument-based approach to evaluate the validity of the tests of mathematical knowledge for teaching (MKT), and (2) to critically assess the author's version of an argument-based approach to validation (Kane, 2001, 2004).…

This article explores some of the main challenges of improving the teaching of evidence-based practice in schools of social work. The priority challenges are the needs for a general professional cultural shift, for adequate curricula, to overcome the controversy of scientific methodology, to better understand the state of the art of the…

The following text is a "narrative inquiry" (Clandinin and Connelly, 2000) in which I present an account of my experiences as an English teacher working in an Australian public secondary school. I explore the ways in which my beliefs as an English teacher conflicted with my role as a Literacy Co-ordinator/teacher and how--even though I…

The decisions evaluators make regarding how to work with teachers through the annual evaluation process can have a positive impact on teacher growth and student learning. In this article, the author examines the quality of feedback and how administrators use and provide this feedback to teachers through the evaluation process. What constitutes…

The term "environment-based education" describes a form of school-based environmental education in which an instructor uses the local environment as a context for integrating subjects and a source of real world learning experiences. Despite the growing body of evidence that supports the educational efficacy of this instructional approach and its…

When asking about animals, it is hard to find a person who doesn't recall a beloved pet or share that they've always loved dolphins, snakes, or ladybugs. A study of animals in an early childhood classroom, then, would seem an easy entry into science explorations with children. The article includes reflections on teaching to address the gaps…

For many educators the fair use provision of the Copyright Act of 1976 and the subsequent Technology, Education, and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act offer "carte blanche" use of various forms of media in the classroom. As Siva Vaidhyanathan (2001) notes, "Copyright myths have had as much power as copyright laws" (p. 5). The…

Managing student behaviour remains one of the most daunting aspects of teaching for educators and this is particularly so when children with disabilities are included in the regular classroom. Self-efficacy has been identified as having a significant impact on a teacher's behaviour, and preservice training can play an important role in preparing…